Power Saving Techniques for Use in Communication Systems, Networks, and Devices

1. A method comprising: sending a power saving probe request from a first entity to a second entity to request information on available power saving capabilities of said second entity; receiving a power saving probe response from said second entity that includes information on available power saving capabilities of said second entity; and negotiating with said second entity for provision of at least one power saving service chosen from said available power saving capabilities.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein: negotiating includes sending a power saving request from said first entity to said second entity to request a power saving service and receiving a power saving response from said second entity in response to said power saving request.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein: said power saving probe request uses a Tag-Length-Value (TLV) format.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein: said power saving probe request requests information on a quantity of power saving entities that are currently within a corresponding system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein: said power saving probe request requests information on an amount of buffer space that has been reserved for power saving buffering within said second entity.

6. A method comprising: sending power saving probe requests from a first entity to multiple second entities to request information on available power saving capabilities of said multiple second entities, wherein each of said multiple second entities has been identified as being capable of performing a desired communication function for said first entity; receiving power saving probe responses from said multiple second entities that each include information on available power saving capabilities of a corresponding second entity; and selecting a second entity with which to communicate to perform said desired communication function for said first entity based on information within said received power saving probe responses.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein: selecting a second entity includes selecting an entity based on a criterion that includes power saving capabilities as well as one or more additional factors.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising: negotiating with said selected second entity for provision of at least one power saving service chosen from the available power saving capabilities of said selected second entity.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein: sending power saving probe requests to multiple second entities includes sending said power saving probe requests via one or more wireless media.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein: sending power saving probe requests to multiple second entities includes sending said power saving probe requests via one or more wired media.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein: sending power saving probe requests to multiple second entities includes sending at least one power saving probe request via a wireless medium and at least one power saving probe request via a wired medium.

12. An apparatus comprising: at least one transceiver; and a controller that includes logic to generate a power saving probe request for transmission to a remote entity by said at least one transceiver, said power saving probe request to request information from said remote entity about power saving capabilities of said remote entity, said controller also including logic to receive a power saving probe response from said remote entity, in response to said power saving probe request, that includes information about power saving capabilities of said remote entity.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein: said controller includes logic to negotiate with said remote entity to establish a mutual power saving policy after said power saving probe response has been received.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein: said logic to negotiate with said remote entity includes logic to generate a power saving request for transmission to said remote entity by said transceiver, said power saving request identifying a power saving function selected from said power saving capabilities of said remote entity.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein: said controller includes logic to generate power saving probe requests for transmission to multiple remote entities within a common time frame, said power saving probe requests to each request information from a corresponding remote entity about power saving capabilities of said corresponding remote entity, wherein said controller also includes logic to select a remote entity to perform a predetermined function based on power saving probe responses received from said multiple remote entities in response to said power saving probe requests.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein: said at least one transceiver includes a wireless transceiver for transmitting signals into and receiving signals from a wireless medium.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein: said at least one transceiver includes a wired transceiver for transmitting signals into and receiving signals from a wired medium.

18. A system comprising: at least one dipole antenna; at least one transceiver, said at least one transceiver including a first transceiver that is coupled to said at least one dipole antenna; and a controller that includes logic to generate a power saving probe request for transmission to a remote entity by said at least one transceiver, said power saving probe request to request information from said remote entity about power saving capabilities of said remote entity, said controller also including logic to receive a power saving probe response from said remote entity, in response to said power saving probe request, that includes information about power saving capabilities of said remote entity.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein: said controller includes logic to negotiate with said remote entity to establish a mutual power saving policy after said power saving probe response has been received.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein: said logic to negotiate with said remote entity includes logic to generate a power saving request for transmission to said remote entity by said transceiver, said power saving request identifying a power saving function selected from said power saving capabilities of said remote entity.

21. An article comprising a storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computing platform, operate to: send a power saving probe request from a first entity to a second entity to request information on available power saving capabilities of said second entity; receive a power saving probe response from said second entity that includes information on available power saving capabilities of said second entity; and negotiate with said second entity for provision of at least one power saving service chosen from said available power saving capabilities.

22. The article of claim 21 , wherein: operation to negotiate includes operation to send a power saving request from said first entity to said second entity to request a power saving service and operation to receive a power saving response from said second entity in response to said power saving request.

23. The article of claim 21 , wherein: said power saving probe request uses a Tag-Length-Value (TLV) format.